The Resistance Release Day Has Arrived!

It's here, it's here, it's here! I feel like a little kid on Christmas. :D After almost three years from the start of writing it through all the rewrites and editing, Resistance, the first book of Ilyon Chronicles as well as the first book under my new pen name, Jaye L. Knight, is now available for Kindle! I’ve been publishing for quite a few years now, and though I’ve released several books previous to this, this seems so much more “real” thanks to all the awesome people who have been and are a part of it. One of the things that makes it so exciting and special is the awesome blog tour my publicist has put together. You can see the schedule here on her blog: http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/p/resistance-blog-tour.html Make sure you check out all the awesome stops through the week.

 

And now, of course, here is the button to the Resistance Kindle book on Amazon ($3.99).

 

 

As far as the paperback, I am expecting my final proof copy on Wednesday. Well, I hope it will be the last. Since the first proof was almost perfect, I have high hopes. If I can approve it on Wednesday, it should be available by the end of the week. I’ll also put in an order for my own copies and start accepting orders for autographed books.

 

As part of the festivities for the blog tour, I’m also excited to share a fun, Resistance inspired giveaway! This was especially fun to put together. It includes an autographed paperback copy of Resistance, a wolf necklace handcrafted by me and inspired by my main character Jace, a Better Homes and Gardens “Warm Rustic Woods” candle, which I have dubbed the official candle of Ilyon Chronicles, and a leather wolf paw bookmark from Lodgepole Leathercraft. So make sure to enter using the form below! (U.S. residents only.)

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Resistance Cover Reveal + Giveaway

Today is a moment I’ve been anxiously awaiting for probably the last two years or so—the reveal of the cover for Resistance, the first book in my NA (New Adult) fantasy series, Ilyon Chronicles (published under my pen name Jaye L. Knight)! Seriously, it really has been that long. I started putting the cover together very shortly after I started writing the book almost three years ago. I was always very excited about it, and now I can finally show everyone!

This is personally my favorite cover I’ve ever put together so far. Between the forest background and the gold and black sword, it fits the story so perfectly. I certainly had fun tweaking it over the last couple of years. (I will be posting on my “behind the scenes” Ilyon Chronicles blog in a couple of days showing the transformation from the first test cover to the finished version.) And I’m quite excited about how it looks with the rest of the series. Yes, I do have all six covers put together, at least in temporary form, and I desperately wish I could share them all! Sadly, that will have to wait. But I can tell you that all six books will have the same torn paper at the top as well as the swirly border in the background to tie each of the six books together.

 

My main vision for the covers of this series was to have them be simple, but bold. That seems to be a trend with a lot of popular mainstream fantasy novels these days like Game of Thrones, and I thought it would work well with Ilyon Chronicles.

 

Below you can read the back cover text, and as an added bonus, I’m sharing a short excerpt from the book. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway for one of two of my handmade sword bookmarks inspired by the cover! And check out what others are saying on the blogs listed here.

 

The Kindle version of Resistance will release on May 20th. I will do my best to have the paperback ready at the same time, though it may get delayed depending on how the first proof copy turns out. (Cover colors can be tough to get to print just right.) To celebrate the release, there will be a week long blog tour May 20-27. It will include reviews, interviews, a giveaway, and more! Mark your calendars, and check the blog tour page in May for more information. Hope to see you there!

 

About the Book

“Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”

 

Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

 

Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair and her twin brother live every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

 

Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.

 

Excerpt

 

      Just when he lowered his guard enough to relax, a grating voice sent tension knotting across his shoulders.
      “Look what the excitement dragged into town.”
      Jace ground his teeth together and turned. He should never have stopped watching his back. Wrong move on his part.
      Flanked by two of his smug-faced friends, a red-haired young man smirked at him, his eyes harboring all sorts of ill will. Jace barely bit back a sharp retort, but the other man’s smirk only grew at his silence. He peered around Jace.
      “Rebekah, what are you doing with this . . .” He glanced back to Jace and turned up his wide nose. “. . . half-blood?”
      Jace balled his fists. Warmth seeped down his arms and into his muscles, pulsing with the preparation for a fight, but he fought to still it.
      Rebekah came to his side, her face set in a frown that looked entirely out of place. “Stop it, Morden.”
      He gave her a condescending little grin. “Why don’t you run along? We’ve got business here.” The grin stretched wider. “I’ll gladly come find you later.”
      Rebekah put her hands on her hips, glaring at him, and opened her mouth to speak, but Jace beat her to it.
      “A gentleman would treat a lady with more consideration.”
      Morden snorted. “And what would you know about that?”
      A blaze erupted inside that Jace struggled to contain. He breathed in hard, cursing the impulses he had to battle so often. He couldn’t let it take control of him. Not again.
      “Come on, Jace, we still have to find something for Kalli.” Rebekah’s soft voice quieted his growing agitation, and she tugged lightly on his stiff arm.
    His blood still burned hot in his veins, calling him to action, and was almost too strong to resist. He thought of Rayad who told him time and again to go to Elôm when he struggled like this. He forced himself to turn away from Morden and whispered silently, “Elôm, I need help.”
      But Morden, who must have caught the movement of his lips just before he turned completely, let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you praying?”
      Jace froze. His heart thundered.
      “Who could you be praying to? Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”
      An evil pang of doubt knifed through Jace’s heart, colder and more painful than the steel of any dagger, and robbed the breath from his lungs. His eyes settled on Rebekah’s face, but it was her pitying expression that caused the weak grip on his emotions to fail. Heat flared in his muscles. He spun around and smashed his fist into the side of Morden’s jaw, sending the man reeling. Regret followed, but it was too late. Morden’s friends caught him by the arms and steadied him as he shook his head to clear his vision.
      Jace dragged deep breaths into his tightened lungs and waited for Morden’s next move. Just walk away. The silent plea went out in desperation. If only it would just end here. But satisfaction lit Morden’s eyes, and his lip curled in a malicious sneer.

 

Copyright © 2014 by Jaye L. Knight

Giveaway
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Ilyon Chronicles Inspiration Anniversary

I was looking in my journal yesterday and realized, today is a big deal. Today marks the two year anniversary of the first spark of inspiration that became Ilyon Chronicles. Crazy how far it has come since then. Just this morning I wrote the first kiss scene of the series, something I’ve been waiting almost three whole books for! ;) I'll always look back at that moment of inspiration as a milestone in my life, because this is seriously the coolest project I've ever worked on. In honor of that moment and how far I’ve come, I've decided to have a little weekend long party where I share bits of information and story snippets on the Ilyon Chronicles Facebook page. Also, if you have any questions about the series, I'd be happy to answer without giving away too much information. So, to join in and check out what I’ve posted so far, just head over to the page. It’s going to be all kinds of fun. :)

Ilyon Chronicles Page

Title of Ilyon Chronicles–Book 1

So here we are, first post of 2013! What better way than to announce the title of the first book of Ilyon Chronicles? That title is…*drum roll*… Resistance. It wasn’t the first title I came up with, but it fits the story perfectly, and I quite like one word titles like this.

Now, not only is the title finally revealed, but I’m also sharing a small synopsis. It’s the first look at the lives of my two main characters, Jace and Kyrin. Enjoy!

     Soulless. Monster. Animal.

     Could God ever love a half-blood who society looks on with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when tragedy shatters the only peace he’s ever known, all the lies and doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

     Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair and her twin brother live every day under a pretense of loyalty and the threat of being discovered. After her unique abilities place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

     As the emperor sets into motion long-devised plans to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, thousands of lives are endangered. But there are those willing to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and struggles as they become part of the resistance.

* * * * * * * *

Interested? I hope so. :) I can hardly wait to share more. Still no plans for a publishing date, unfortunately. But I actively update my Ilyon Chronicles Facebook page with all the latest news as I work through the series. So make sure to like it if you want stay up to date and catch any story snippets I post along the way. Also, if you’re interested, I have many growing boards for the series over on Pinterest. Lots of character, race, and setting inspiration for the story. You can kind of get a feel for the world there. It’s been one of the most fun aspects of writing this story.

Introducing the Ilyon Chronicles!

After much delay and frustration with my complete lack of ambition (thanks Celiac), it gives me great pleasure to finally announce the series title of my “secret” fantasy project!

I’ve been busily preparing for this day for the last couple weeks, only to keep pushing the announcement back further and further due to no creativity and a total lack of ambition when it came to this blog post! But here it is at last. I’ve wanted to come out with the series title for a long time. It’s no fun to always refer to it as my “secret” or “current” fantasy project. But I wanted to get a few things done before that. Like building a website for the series! :)

Ilyon Chronicles is still in the early stages of being written, but I like to share bits of information here and there, and build excitement. That’s part of the reason I’ve set up the website as well as a couple other social media pages where everyone can follow along with my progress. Just follow the links below to discover more!

Website
Facebook Page
Pinterest Inspiration Board